Rail-joint.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL L. HARRIS, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TONATHAN DUNSMORE, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE.

. RAILJOINT.

1,020,820. Specification 0f Letters Patent Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

Application filed May 17, 1911.

To all lwhom t may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL L. HARRIS, citizenof the United States, residing at Knoxville, in the county of Knox andState of Tennessee, have invented new and useful Improvements inRail-Joints, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of the invention are to prevent displacement of the meet-ingends of rails and to eliminate the noise and the which are producedwhile the car wheels are passing thereover.

The above and other objects will appear and be better understood fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pair of meeting ends constructed inaccordance with my invention and secured to the cross ties; Fig. 2 is aplan View; Fig. 3 is a detail vertical longitudinal sectional view.

The meeting ends 5 and 6 have thick end web port-ions 7 the oppositesides of which slant from the sides of the treads 8 to the base flanges9. The thickened portion 7 of the end 5 is reduced in one dimension byremoving a portion of the head and web as shown at 10 and is furtherreduced in the same dimension by a transverse recess l1 as shown. Theend G is reduced and recessed as shown at 12 and 13 respectively tocorrespond to the reduced portion of the end The reduced portion 12 ofthe end (5 snugly tits in the recess 11 of the end 5 and the recess 13of the end G receives the reduced portion 10 of the end 5 as shown inFig. 3 wherein it will be seen that when the ends are so arranged theywill be interlocked and one end supporting the other whereby asubstantially unitary structure is produced.

Referring to the drawing and more espeeially to Fig. 2 the treads S arecoincident and in view of the structure j ust described the noise andjars produced when the wheels are passing over the juncture of thetreads will be substantially eliminated.

The iish plates 14: are arranged on the opposite sides of the thickenedportions 7 and Serial No. 627,733.

have openings to receive bolts 15 which pass therethrough and throughthe webs and which are secured by the nuts 16. The fish plates areadditionally secured to the meeting ends and the latter further heldagainst longitudinal or lateral movement by means of a tie bolt 17, thebent end portions 1S of which pass through alining openings in the fishplates and webs and are screw-threaded to engage the nuts l). The lowerside portions of the fish plates are out-turned to provide spike flanges2O by means of which the structure is secured to the ties 21 by thespikes 22.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the parts may be readilyunlocked and inter-locked whenever desired and in addition to theadvantages already pointed out the danger of the rails spreading orotherwise becoming displaced will be prevented.

Although I have shown and described one form of my device it is to beunderstood that I am not to be limited to the structure shown anddescribed, since various changesl may be made within the scope of theappended claim without .departing from the spirit of the invention.

lVhat is claimed as new is:

In a rail joint, the combination of the meeting rail ends havingportions of their webs thickened so that the outer faces of thethickened portions are coincident with the edges of the treads and baseflanges one of said ends being reduced in height and recessed, and theother undercut and adapted to be received by the recessed portion of theiirst-named end, iish plates on the opposite faces of the thickenedportions, and U- shaped bolts passing through said fish plates andthickened portions.

In testilnony whereof I affix my signature in presence of witnesses.

SAMUEL L. HARRIS. lVitnesses:

WVM. C. DnNroN, MATTIE A'r'rix, ANNE J. A'r'rix, D. M. JACKSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

